Tag Archives: Firestone Walker

Firestone Walker Wookey Jack

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  • Brewery: Firestone Walker
  • Country: USA
  • Style: Black IPA
  • ABV: 8.3 %
  • Size: 650 ml
  • Bought from: Online
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Next up for the evening is Firestone Walker’s Black Rye IPA, Wookey Jack. I’m a very big fan of Firestone Walker, and have loved practically every beer I’ve tried from them. They seem to be able to balance flavors fantastically, whilst still keeping their beers hop-forward and clean. The beer has been brewed with pale ale, rye, cararye, midnight wheat and black malt, while hopped with Magnum, Citra and Amarillo to 80 IBU. As with the majority of Firestone Walker beer, it has been fermented with an English yeast strain. We brewed a Black Rye IPA inspired by this beer earlier this autumn, and it will be really interesting to try the original! Cheers!

[easyreview title=”Firestone Walker Wookey Jack” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a very dark brown, almost black color, and a huge and fluffy tan-colored head is formed, that collapses slowly leaving drapes of lacing along the glass. Held against the light, you can see that the beer is crystal clear and that there are some ruby-like colors in the beer as well. A really nice appearance!” cat1rating=”4.5″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma is surprisingly light, with some roasted coffee and chocolate, together with some tropical fruits, citrus and resin. Compared to our own homebrewed Black Rye IPA, hopped with the same varieties, the hop aroma is much more muted. However, this beer is almost half a year old, and the beer was most likely much different fresh. Some slight notes of caramel, alcohol and spicy rye as well in the background. Not bad, but I must admit I’m slightly disappointed. It does get better as the beer warms up though, and I may have opened it a bit too cold. I had first planned on giving 3-3.5 points for the aroma, but when the beer gets warmer I must say it gets closer to a 4-4.5, with the aroma amplifying.” cat2rating=”4″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor begins with a slight roastiness and sweet caramel tones, giving off an impression of mocha. There is even a slight ashiness present. A fruity (its mostly mango and grapefruit) hoppiness then joins in, and the longer the beer lingers in the mouth, the more the flavor shifts into the pine and resin territory. Throughout there is a slight spiciness from the rye as well. The finish is semi-dry and the beer has a firm bitterness. The flavors balance well together, and whilst the aroma was a slight disappointment, the flavor certainly delivers. Not quite as roasty and heavy as Imperial Stouts usually are, and with the fruity hoppiness of a nice IPA, this Black IPA gives a great balance of both. The alcohol is hidden well behind the other flavors. Compared to our own homebrew, the flavor is cleaner and slightly less roasted.” cat3rating=”4″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a medium-full body and a medium-high carbonation level. The texture is smooth, and the beer makes a great slow sipper because of the roastiness and bitterness.” cat4rating=”4″ summary=”Overall a very nice beer, that was quite similar to our homebrew. The combination of roasted tones and fruity hoppiness works very well here. I imagine this would be even better fresh, but this still features a nice range of hop tones. I must say that I’m a bigger fan of traditional IPAs, but here all the flavors worked very well together.”]

The Perfect IPA?

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Having just come home from our old apartment (where I did some last minute cleaning, before we have to hand it over to the new tenants), tired and exhausted, I decided I should reward myself with a beer. I take a quick look into my new dedicated beer fridge (which I will soon integrate into a bar counter; will probably make a post once I get it finished), and see a bottle of Firestone Walker’s Union Jack. The beer is bottled in the end of June, so it should be fresh (at least from a Finnish point-of-view). I pour up the beer, and the room already fills with citrusy and floral hop aroma. A beautiful beer. Strong hop aroma. Tones from C-hops, Amarillo and Simcoe. The flavor is perfectly balanced. A relatively light maltiness, combines with loads of citrus and resin from the hops, and ends in a lingering bitterness. The beer feels so smooth. Is this the perfect IPA? I think so.

Firestone Walker Double Jack

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  • Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
  • Country: USA
  • Style: Imperial IPA
  • ABV: 9.5 %
  • Size: 650 ml
  • Bought from: Gift from my sister (bought in San Francisco)
  • Beer Advocate
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My sister brought home a threesome of Firestone Walker beers from San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, of which I’ve already had the Union Jack IPA (reviewed last summer already, so didn’t bother re-reviewing it). The Union Jack is one the tastiest, if not the tastiest, beer I’ve ever had, so am really looking forward to try the Imperial version of it. The bottle is quite fresh, about 3 months old, so the majority of the hoppy goodness should be intact. The beer is brewed with American 2-row, Munich and Light Crystal malt, and has been hopped with Warrior, Columbus, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo and Simcoe to an IBU of around 100. The original gravity of the beer should have been around 1.087, while the final gravity is around 1.015 (giving an ABV of 9.5%). The beer has been fermented with an English ale yeast. Hopefully this one is as good as the Union Jack!

[easyreview title=”Firestone Walker Double Jack” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a golden-orange color and a slight off-white oily head, that collapses leaving some lacing and foam islands.” cat1rating=”4″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma is very hoppy, featuring floral and citrusy tones, drawing towards grapefruit, lime, pineapple, resin and tropical fruits. There is a slight caramelly sweetness behind all the hops, as well as some minimal alcohol notes. Fantastic aroma!” cat2rating=”4.5″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor begins with the slightest caramelly notes, but it quickly becomes evident that this beer is all about the hops. The flavor is full of citrusy, fruity and resiny hop tones, which balance perfectly with the slight maltiness that’s also present. The hop tones begin with some grapefruit, lime and tangerine, but move on to the resiny and piney territory, where they are joined by a smooth bitterness and a quite dry aftertaste. The flavors are fantastically balanced, as the bitterness, which does not at all feel like 100 IBU, is paired with the slightly sweet, caramelly and honey-like malt backbone and the bucket-loads of hop flavor. This surpasses Union Jack as the best tasting beer I’ve ever had.” cat3rating=”5″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a medium body and medium-low carbonation level, and because of the balance it is fantastically easy to drink.” cat4rating=”4.5″ cat5title=”Overall” cat5detail=”Just wow. Firestone Walker really know how to brew IPAs (and they are known for their dark beers as well). This beer is full-packed with citrusy and resiny hop flavors and aroma, that are perfectly balanced with a slight malt backbone and a smooth bitterness. The beer is easy to drink as well for such a strong ale. Still have the Double Barrel Ale left, that I’m looking forward to trying as well. If you ever get the chance to try this, do try. Shame I probably won’t get to try this again in a long time.” cat5rating=”5″ overall=”false”]

Firestone Union Jack India Pale Ale

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  • Brewery: Firestone Walker
  • Country: USA
  • Style: American IPA
  • ABV: 7.5%
  • Size: 650 ml
  • Bought from: Cracked Kettle, Holland
  • Beer Advocate
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    •  

    Today it’s time for another American beer from my recent Cracked Kettle order, Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA. Union Jack is a triple dry-hopped west coast IPA, that promises loads of hop aroma and flavour. I think (a bit difficult to distinguish the numbers on the bottle) this was bottled 15.12.2010, so unfortunately isn’t super fresh, but hopefully it will still be tasty. The beer is brewed with 2-row, Munich, CaraPils and Light Crystal malt, and has been hopped with Warrior, Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, and Chinook, to a bitterness of 70 IBU. Let’s see how it does!

    [easyreview title=”Firestone Union Jack India Pale Ale” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer has a golden-amber color, and is slighty hazy. A white-colored fluffy head is formed during pour, that quite quickly collapses, leaving nice lacing along the glass.” cat1rating=”4″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma is dominated by citrusy, resiny, and floral hop tones, with hints of grapefruit, lemon, peach and pine. There is also some caramelly sweetness hidden behind the hops.” cat2rating=”4.5″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”As the beer enters the mouth, there is an initial caramelly sweetness, that quickly is joined by hop tones of resin and grapefruit. The flavours end with a slight pleasant bitterness, as the hop tones fade away. The alcohol is perfectly hidden away, and overall this beer is fantastically balanced, as the maltiness, hoppiness, bitterness and alcohol join together perfectly, with no overpowering flavour.” cat3rating=”5″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a smooth medium body and a moderate-low carbonation level, making it pleasant to drink.” cat4rating=”4.5″ summary=”Another fantastic American IPA by a US craft brewery. Well balanced with loads of hop flavour and aroma. I can only imagine how this would taste if it was half a year fresher! Will definitely have to try Firestone’s beers again if I ever get the chance. Too bad this was damn expensive from Cracked Kettle. Still one of the best beers I’ve ever had.”]